Well, it has been cold these past four days while we've been in the throes of a lengthy winter storm that began on Friday and continued on to Sunday. We've been averaging -7C, which by Ottawa winter standards is about right for the month of December. But the  howling winds gusting up to 80km/hr certainly have made it seem colder. And with the incessant snowfalls we've done quite a bit of shovelling.

 

The snow plowing crews have been answering so many calls they can barely keep up. Our driveway was stuffed high with snow yesterday. Usually it's cleaned up by early morning, along with the other houses on the street that contract with the same company. Just as well the combination of snow, wind and snowpiles kept us home yesterday. It would've been quite the effort even to wade through the snow on the driveway, then tackle the road, to get up to the ravine entrance.

 

And we speculated how difficult getting about on the forest trails would be while the storm was raging. It didn't take too much imagination to convince ourselves we'd better give an outing a pass for another day. We'd also missed going out the day before. Dinner last night consisted of hot soup packed with vegetables, grilled cheese sandwiches and blueberries drowned in yogurt. 

 

When we woke this morning it was -7C again, and snow was falling. Lightly at first and then surging to heavier snowfall. After awhile we were incredulous to see the sun come out, lighting up the house, but its presence made no difference to the snow. It just kept falling even while the brilliant sun lit the atmosphere. We decided for French toast for breakfast and that warmed us nicely.

 

We thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the sun's presence, so an earlier afternoon walk made sense. On our return we could tend to the other things that demanded attention. Because of the wind and the temperature we dressed with a bit more care. Wind like that has a tendency to probe icy fingers through inadequate exterior clothing. Setting out earlier also meant we would avoid encountering the arrival of dusk before we're halfway through our circuit, as usual.

 

We didn't know what to expect. Whether the trails would be passable, given the amount of snow that's come down in the past three days. And whether there would be additional damage to a forest that already suffered more than enough casualties back in May when a derecho passed through, blowing down mature old trees. But we found the trails well tamped down by others who had been through before us. And apart from a few extremely tall, thin trees that did blow down, and plenty of twigs littering the snow, not much damage could be seen.

 

We came across a few other people out to enjoy the sight of a fresh cushion of snow. Most of the snow that would normally, after a snowfall, pack the canopy with thick layers of snow was absent, though. The effect of the wind blasting through everything. The snow that had been plastered all over tree limbs in thick layers of plush from an earlier 40cm storm was also plucked off the trees. Resulting in uneven surfaces where they fell.

 

These were thick layers of both ice and snow and when they fell, new snow tamped them down securely to the forest floor. The result was seen in an uneven surface that twisted and turned ankles making their way along the trails. The constant twists for a prolonged period was felt in  hips and feet afterward. But this is winter, and a fairly typical one, at that.